OAKLAND — Montclair’s favorite butterball — er, dog — Percy Da Pug, the unofficial mayor of this shopping hamlet who spent his days shaking down local shopkeepers for treats and attention, died Monday of complications from a brain tumor.

And the block is just not the same without him.

“I don’t know how you can put something like this into words,” said Erik Hoffmann, who works at Montclair Hardware and stamped “The Mayor” onto a gold coin Percy always wore around his neck. “There is a big, vacant hole around here.”

Percy would stop by the hardware store, sometimes 12 times a day, to get a treat or two or three or four. He worked like a lovable extortionist, Hoffmann said, flopping on the floor and staying put until he got what he wanted.

“When I went to say goodbye to him Saturday,” Hoffmann said, “I almost cried. I am not a crybaby, and I nearly burst into tears.”

The 10-year-old brown and tan pug first became a fixture on the street nine years ago, when Montclair Antiques owner Niels Dahl-Jensen picked him up from a pug animal rescue service and brought him to work.

“He was always a very well-behaved dog,” Dahl-Jensen said. “He never chewed, just relaxed and followed me around.”

Percy soon turned the square block of Mountain Boulevard, La Salle Avenue and Medau Place into his personal nirvana. He began his day in Montclair Antiques, then he trotted to the hardware store for the first of many treats. He then stopped by United Bank of California on Mountain Boulevard for more treats.

“We’d feed him three or four times a day,” said the bank’s David Kamaroff. “He’s going to be missed.”

Next, Percy would stop by the Montclair Flower Outlet and Gifts, then he would head on to the Avalon Salon, where he got even more treats.

“This is his favorite spot to sleep, right here under my desk,” said the salon’s Minn Lee. “We were so used to him coming in 10 or 12 times a day.”

His final stop was Percy’s personal mecca, the Italian deli AG Ferrari Foods. Rebekah Jones, deli manager, said Percy liked to stand under the meat slicer and pick up anything that fell on the floor.

“He was right on it,” she said, adding she once had to fight him for a 6-pound chunk of roast beef Percy tried to drag from the shop. “He never forgave me for that.”

Jones traded stories about Percy with her employees during the lunch hour Tuesday. There was the time Percy came by with a basket attached to his neck and a sign reading “free sandwiches accepted.”

At some point, Percy’s owner noticed he was getting a little round so Dehl-Jensen added a little white tag to his collar that said “Please Don’t Feed Me,” but that was largely ignored.

Jones once tried to put the 28.75-pound dog on a diet, feeding him tuna and chicken salad, But Percy would have none of it. He preferred the good stuff, she said.

“He was my favorite little guy in the world,” she said. “He truly was the mayor of Montclair.”

Percy became the district’s “official” mayor in 2004, when the Montclair Veterinary Hospital held a Doggie Mayor race as a fund-raising event for its Pet and Wildlife Fund, which pays for services the hospital provides for injured and orphaned wildlife. Percy won the first race in 2004 and beat out seven competitors for the much-woofed-about title in June.

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